Mobile Websites Are No Longer Optional

The mobile web will soon be the dominant choice in internet usage, overtaking web browsing on PCs and laptops by next year. Given the clear supremacy and growth of mobile web browsing, it’s shocking to learn that 70% of businesses don’t have a mobile website.

Standard websites designed to be viewed on laptop and PC screens are incompatible for the smaller screens of iPhones, Androids and other mobile web devices. Even if your non-mobile website can be seen on a mobile device, that doesn’t mean it’s functional on a mobile device. Only 1% of standard websites will render on a mobile device.

Your standard website may feature high-resolution graphics, flash video and lots of interesting content. The very things that make your standard site so interesting are what will make it unusable as a mobile website. Most smart phones can’t play Flash programs, hi-res photos take too long to load and the volume of content will make the site slow to load and navigate.

Instead, you need to focus on the most critical information about your small business that a mobile web surfer needs. At a minimum, they need to know where you are, what you do, how to contact you and your hours of operation. For a mobile website, less is so much, much more!

Many of the best mobile websites launch with an opening screen that has just a few options that are large clickable buttons to easily navigate the user to the information they need including:

  • How to Find Us – clicking this can take your potential customer to a page where they can see your address, click for directions or click to activate their smart phone’s GPS function to automatically navigate to your establishment
  • When We’re Open – clicking this can take your potential customer to a page that simply lists your daily hours of operation – if there are holidays upcoming, you should also indicate whether you are open on the holiday as well as any days your hours will deviate from the standard
  • How to Reach Us – clicking this can take your potential customer to a page where they can click-to-call your business number, click to send an email to you or click to send a text to you – just be sure that whichever option they choose is monitored so you can communicate on the spot
  • What We Offer – clicking this can take your potential customer to a page that very briefly summarizes what you do, what you sell, what services you offers, etc.
  • Special Deals – clicking this can take your potential customer to a page that offers them an incentive in the form of a discount or freebie to sign up for your mobile texting list – this captures them on the spot and allows you to reach out to them again to encourage a transaction with your small business

Two other options to consider when prepping your small business website are social media links and an option to link to your full website. Consumers are very engaged in social media and if you have a presence on Four Square, Facebook, Twitter or other media sites, you should include links to your pages so they can follow you if they like.  Another option that many mobile sites don’t offer, but that may be desired is a link to your full website in case they want to browse all of your content.

No matter what, a mobile website, even a poorly executed one, is better than no mobile website at all. But it’s easier than you can imagine to set up a mobile website for your small business in just a few hours to get found on the mobile web and drive business to your establishment.

Offer an option to see use your full site

Presentation June 21st, 2012 – Top 3 Internet Marketing Trends

The Top 3 Online Trends that will make or break your business in 2012 and beyond

Now more than ever the success of your business is heavily influenced by how well you use online tools. While you don’t need to be a ‘techno geek’ and understand every little piece of internet marketing, you should know the basics. The top 3 trends that are currently affecting your business–whether you like it or not–are mobile marketing, reputation management and social media.

Mobile Marketing

The number of people using smart phones to access the web is growing every day. This is a market that you don’t want to ignore. Not only is the number growing, a mobile surfer is more likely to be a buyer.

In my presentation I will cover how you can use mobile marketing to build better relationships with your clients and prospects. Additionally, I will reveal the most common mistake people make regarding mobile.

Reputation Management

Online reviews are becoming one of the most critical factors in consumer buying decisions. There is no reason to think this trend will do anything but grow. People love getting feedback about everything from restaurants to professional services. The question is this… Do you know what people are saying about you?

In my presentation I will show you how to handle negative feedback, how to encourage positive reviews, and how to get instantly notified when someone is talking about your business online. I will also reveal a seldom used strategy for answering feedback that will help with SEO (search engine optimization).

Social Media

OK, people have been talking about social media and its place in business for years. How can this be a new trend? In one word…Google! Google is now using social media as an important piece of their algorithm in order to decide where your website places. Additionally, more and more people use Facebook instead of email. This is where your customers are already communicating, shouldn’t you be there as well?

During my presentation you’ll learn about the newest changes/opportunities within Facebook. I will also cover how to take advantage of the newest ‘big thing’–Pinterest. Additionally, you will get a quick overview of how to use software to save time and automate your social media efforts.

If you are interested in learning more about these trends, please join me for my presentation at Oregon PRO (www.OregonPRO.com).

When: 6/21/2012 (Thursday) 7:15 AM
Where: On Nimbus in Beaverton. (Address provided upon registration)
Cost: Free

Please email: rsvp@oregonPRO.com to register.